iZoofari Chat: Koala Estrus Behavior Study
Posted at 8:39 am August 30, 2007 by Dennis Corbran
How do you know when a female koala is ready to breed? It’s not such an easy task. CRES Neeper Summer Student Fellow Maressa Takahashi and San Diego Zoo koala keeper Amy Alfrey are involved in a study of female koala behavior that should help keepers decide when the time is right. Read a blog about Maressa’s study. (11:35)
NEW! iZoofari Chats are a series of interviews that put you in touch with the people who work for the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Current subscribers to either the Zoo or Wild Animal Park podcast feeds will also get the iZoofari Chats.
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August 31st, 2007 at 3:19 pm
I just want to say i went to visit my aunt who is 81 last year in san diego and i went to your zoo it was the best vacation i have ever had i finally got to see my favorite marsupeal the koala bear it was always my dream to go to australia and hold one but being at the zoo and seeing them close up and sleeping as usual it was just great and if i get the chance i will be back so keep up the good work. regards lorraine adebahr
February 3rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I’m doing a report on Koalas in Fourth Grade and I enjoyed your information on movements and breeding. I heard the sound byte on the koala page and I was wondering if you knew when they make that sound? Thank for all the great information i really enjoy this site. please e-mail me if possible i would like to add it to my report.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Hi Marissa,
In response to your question, the koala bellow is an important tool for koala communication. The males bellow regularly to let other males know of their territorial boundaries and also to try and establish dominance. They also bellow when they want to attract females. The males also have a scent gland on their chests that they rub all over trees to add to this communication. The female does not tend to bellow as often and mostly only bellows when she wants to attract a mate which is only at certain times of the year and when she does not already have a joey. Here at the San Diego Zoo, we have 17 males and they often bellow back and forth to each other on a daily basis. It can get quite loud in here at certain times of the day.
I hope this helps. Good luck on your report! I’m really glad you like the site.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hi. I’m from México, and I just want to say that I love koalas since I met them at your zoo when I was little, and I return to your zoo few years ago..
Just like lorraine, my dream is to hold a koala, I hope maybe one day I can have the chance to return to your zoo and you can do something so we can have chance to hold a few minutes the koalas.
If not, I hope some day I can go to Australia just to hold one.
I love your zoo a lot. Thanks for all the information that you have in the web, it’s really nice to enter to your website and read so much information.
May 29th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Are koalas in zoo environment traditionally kept in outdoor or indoor exhibits? Or is there a preference to one or the other and why?
May 31st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Hallo,
I’m from Belgium and I’m a great fan of the koala’s we’ve got here in Planckendael. I’ve even followed some of them to other zoo’s in Germany and France. The first two koala’s I remember we had here in Belgium, were two from your zoo in San Diego. I believe they were Cobber and Colongalook. Cobber went back to your zoo, so I would like to know how long did he survive? Colongalook came back and became a brilliant father to lots of babies. But sadly he died.
The breading program here in Belgium is going excellent. At the moment we’ve got two little ones and two just older babies. Unfortuanatly we’ve had a lot of deaths, often cancer.
I would like to know how you can become a koala keeper. Do you have to follow a specific study? Because you can’t follow zoölogy in Belgium anymore.
My dream ofcourse is to go and work in Australia working with all the koala’s
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Hi Lorraine K.,
Thank you for your question. The answer is that it depends on the outdoor climate of where the zoo is located. In Australia, zoos that have similar climates to where koalas in the wild live will generally house them outdoors. Here in San Diego, we have a similar temperate climate to where our northern species of koalas are found, so we are able to house them outdoors also. We do make sure our koalas have adequate shelter, misting systems, and heating sources to keep them comfortable in hot or cold conditions, and we have an indoor area to house each koala in case weather conditions get too extreme, such as in really stormy conditions. We also take into account the individual personality of each koala. Each one of our koalas has its own unique preferences, and a funny fact is that some prefer living outside and some prefer living inside.
Since we have both indoor and outdoor enclosures, we are able to respect this and let each one live where they most prefer. When we loan our koalas out to other zoos both in the U.S. and in other countries, they are most often always housed inside due to more extreme weather conditions such as snow and high heat and humidity. In these areas, they are kept indoors in climate-controlled conditions.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Hi Jenny,
It’s always nice to hear from other countries. I always love to hear from people who love koalas. Cobber is still alive and well and is now living in Miami, Florida, USA. He lives with a female named Danda Loo. Cobber has sired one female offspring named Colliet.
There are many options in regards to a path to become a koala keeper. If your college does not offer zoology you can probably follow a course of study in any life science such as biology, ecology, or some sort of environmental or conservation studies. If these choices are not available, some zookeepers have also majored in psychology. In each of these majors, you will most likely be able to tailor your course of study in different directions. Try to take as many animal-related classes as possible, paying special attention to areas that include marsupial study. If you’re set on being a koala keeper, it would be a good idea to do college reports or studies on koalas specifically, if you have the opportunity.
After college, the main hurdle will be getting hands-on experience. Any direct experience with exotic animals will help. Start as soon as possible. You may want to look into the possibility of helping out wherever you can at the Planckendael Zoo, and also see if you can talk to someone in the koala area about their backround and about any suggestions they may have. Getting into the zookeeping field can be challenging, and you may need to start with animals other than the koalas at first to gain experience. Good luck to you!!
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Dear Mary Chavez Herrera,
Thank you for your response. I’m so happy you are such a fan of the San Diego Zoo and our koalas. Our koalas here in San Diego are only used to their keepers holding them and we are unable to allow visitors to handle our koalas. Although I know they look extremely adorable, they are still a wild animal and can still scratch and bite. Take it from me, they have very sharp claws and teeth, and we, as keepers, know that we need to be very careful when we handle them.
I hope that you can return to our zoo and see the koalas. I’m sure the area has changed quite a bit since you were little. We recently redid the koala area and now there are more koalas on exhibit. I also hope you can one day travel to Australia. Thank you!
June 6th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
hey amy! i just wanted 2 say i am sooooooooo glad that u have koalas in the cali state. we dont have any in oregon. LAME! i
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I visited Australia a few years ago and was able to “hug” a Koala. We are now in Indianapolis and have 2 Koalas on exhibit at our zoo. They are so charming! Here’s my question: Am I remembering correctly that you have to be careful how you hold them since they do not have a breastbone and therefore their internal organs are not terribly well protected? I googled “Koala skeletons” to see a picture, but the pictures were all side views.
Thanks!
Amy responds:
I’m so glad you are enjoying our koalas in Indianapolis. We are careful, when handling our koalas, to not put pressure on their chest area. However, koalas do in fact have a breast bone. There are two reasons we do not pick them up around the chest. One is that compared to other nonmarsupial mammals, a koala’s ribs are quite thin and therefore we need to be careful not to injure them. In addition, their thoracic cavity is comparatively narrow and some internal organs are located just inside the rib cage. We start holding our koalas at a young age in a way that is safe for both them and us so we can avoid the need to hold them around the chest. Thank you for the question!
October 16th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
they are my fav. animal in the world. they are sooooooooooooooooooooooo cute
January 29th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Hey, I met your koala’s a few years ago, absolutely amazing.I love koala bears, I was wondering if you would know if there were koala bears in the new york new jersey area so i could be seen a little bit more often instead of crossing the country.
cant wait to come visit them again !
Chrissy
Moderator’s note: There are koalas at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio and the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina, if that helps.